Azura
Azura (アクア Akua, Aqua in the Japanese version) is a main playable character and the deuteragonist in Fire Emblem Fates. She is a Princess of Valla and Nohr, but was captured and held prisoner by Hoshido, similar to the Avatar's situation. In the Japanese version, Azura is voiced by Lynn while her singing voice is provided by Renka. In the English version, she is voiced by Rena Strober. Profile Azura is a gifted songstress and dancer, singing Lost in Thoughts All Alone several times in all routes. This song has great power when used in conjunction with her pendant. If she achieves an S-Support, she will have a son named Shigure and can possibly be the mother of other children except male Kana. Her birthday is March 3. Azura was born in Valla as the daughter of its queen Arete and her husband. When her father was killed by Anankos and Valla fell, Arete and Azura, along with Mikoto and her child, the Avatar, fled Valla to the world outside the Bottomless Canyon. Azura then became a princess of the Nohrian royal family when her mother became Nohr's second queen and King Garon's consort. Despite her status as a princess, Azura was treated poorly by Nohr's populace as a result of her mother 'replacing' the previous queen, and she was distanced from Garon's other children. Sometime after the Avatar was kidnapped by Garon, Yukimura formulated a plan to kidnap Azura, hiring Shura and his gang to do the job. Since she was not as well-guarded as the Avatar, the plan went smoothly, and Hoshido kidnapped Azura in hopes that Nohr would negotiate with Hoshido for a swap. When Garon refused, she was raised in Hoshido similarly to the Avatar, and Queen Mikoto ordered the people of Hoshido to treat her like a princess of the kingdom. Over time, Azura felt that she had lost her connection to her family in Nohr and happily remained in peaceful Hoshido. Prologue The Avatar first meets Azura when the Hoshidan siblings bring them back to the castle. During a celebration at the capital square, the Avatar's Ganglari explodes and kills most of the people attending, including Mikoto. Along with Ryoma and Sakura, they watch the Avatar transform into a mindless dragon. She warns the Avatar to avoid the Wyrmslayer-wielding mercenaries and assists them to defeat the Hooded Man. After the battle, Azura uses her powers to revert the Avatar back into a human, though she is nearly killed the feral Avatar in the process. The Avatar is confused about their dragon form, and Azura gives them a Dragonstone, telling them that it will allow them to turn into a dragon again but will also keep their mind intact. She advises them to keep it with them at all costs, or the next time they turn into a dragon again without it, she may be unable to save them. Azura joins the Hoshido Siblings and the Avatar to the Plains of Hoshido, where the Hoshidan and Nohrian armies meet. Depending on the Avatar's choice, Azura's involvement with the story of Fates changes. Birthright Azura remains a playable unit in the army immediately from Chapter 6. During Chapter 10, Azura can be brought onto the battlefield against the Mokushu forces. When Takumi arrives and attempts to kill the Avatar, having her talk to him will allow her to banish the presence controlling him, and results in Takumi joining the Avatar's army. On the way to search for Ryoma, during Chapter 12, Azura offers to help Kaden repay a local songstress named Layla, who wants to visit her dying grandmother but is unable to because she has to perform for Garon. Zola disguises Azura as Layla with his magic, and she dances in Layla's place, using her water manipulation skills to discomfit Garon from the stage. However, during the performance Zola betrays the group, the spell drops, and the Avatar's forces barely escape from the opera house. Outside, Azura collapses from exhaustion. Alarmed, the Avatar tries to find out what is wrong, but Azura tells them not to worry about her. During Chapter 20, Iago traps the Hoshidan forces inside Fort Dragonfall by reanimating the dragon, rendering the army's weapons incapable of penetrating the walls of the fort. Azura tells the Avatar that with her powers, she can weaken them. The Avatar refuses to let her because of the consequences that came with it, but allows her to after she convinces them. After the battle, the Hoshidans escape the fortress and Azura sneaks away to hide the consequencecs of using her power. The Avatar notices that it is getting worse, and she admits that the more powerful the target, the more energy she uses, and that using it too long would kill her. The Avatar asks her not to use it too long again, fearing for her life. Azura complies but tells them that she will need to use it on Garon to end the war. When the Hoshidans arrive at Windmire, Shura and his gang attack them after the Avatar refuses to relinquish the Noble Yato to them. Azura remembers a secret passageway her kidnappers (whose identites she didn't know at the time) used to escape the castle. After Garon is defeated, Azura collapses and dissolves into water as the result of overusing her necklace's power, with the Avatar bursting into tears. In the ending, they converse with Azura's spirit by the lakeside where they first met her before Azura disappears and Ryoma calls them back. Conquest After the end of the battle at Hoshido Field, Azura returns to Hoshido after the Avatar decides to stay with their Nohrian siblings. The Hoshidan people become suspicious of Azura because of her Nohrian origins. Though Ryoma does his best to quell any doubts of Azura's sincerity, Azura is captured by a faction of Hoshidans. She is later reunited with the Avatar at Fort Dragonfall in Chapter 9, when their party coincidentally travels through the fort on their way to Notre Sagesse. Grateful for being rescued, she joins their party. When the Avatar's party reaches Cyrkensia, she sings and dances before Garon and Nohrian troops, wearing a different dress and a facial veil to disguise herself. Unlike in Birthright, this dance causes visible pain to Garon. After the dance, Iago notices Garon is in pain and attempts to capture the songstress, who he believes inflicted a curse on him during the dance. After Kumagera appears and attempts to end Garon's life to end the war, Azura surprises the Avatar, who did not see her leave her seat during the performance and like the other Nohrian troops, are unaware that she was the mysterious songstress. Afterwards she travels to Valla, unknowingly followed by the Avatar. After rescuing Gunter and returning to the Bottomless Canyon, she reveals to the Avatar that she was the mysterious songstress. However, the song she performed was not a curse, but a purification ritual meant to drive out the evil force controlling Garon. She reveals that it was too late to save him, and the man known as Garon is no more. She explains that the only way to defeat to evil presence is to get Garon to sit on the Hoshidan throne, meaning they would have to gain Garon's trust, continue the war and conquer Hoshido. Later, when the Avatar is reunited with Xander, they introduce him to his long-lost sister, Azura. Although Azura initially unsure of how Xander will react to her, Xander explains that he was aware of the hardships she faced as a child in Nohr as the people were upset at Garon marrying her mother after his own mother's death and that he, Camilla, and later Leo were discouraged from interacting with her. He then assures her that he is happy to see her again and is glad that all his siblings are reunited and that they can be a family again. As in Birthright, Azura overuses the necklace's power against the possessed Takumi instead, knowing full well it would kill her. However, none of the Nohrian siblings and the Avatar know what happened to her after the battle. The Avatar later encounters her at the lake where they met, before she dissolves into the light. The Avatar thanks her for everything, and Xander calls them back. Revelation After the Avatar refuses to join a side, the war breaks out between the two nations. Needing a way to catch the attention of Xander and Ryoma, Azura, the Avatar and their assistant, Felicia/Jakob take down the front commanders of both armies. Labeled as traitors and needing a safe place to escape, Azura takes the Avatar and Felicia/Jakob to the Bottomless Canyon. Asking the Avatar to trust her, they leap off the bridge into the chasm and an unknown land. Azura then takes the Avatar into a cave and explains that they are in the kingdom of Valla, led by King Anankos, who has been orchestrating the war between Hoshido and Nohr. Azura reveals that she is a Vallite princess and is the daughter of the previous king. Additionally, she reveals that she could not tell anyone in the world above of her origins as doing so causes a curse to activate, dissolving the body of anyone who speaks about Valla. Their discussion ends shortly when a Vallite army comes to attack the party. After dispatching most of them, Azura and the Avatar flee from Valla and decide that the best course of action is to have both the armies of Hoshido and Nohr join forces to take down the real threat to their countries. This route also confirms that Azura is the Avatar's cousin through their mothers, Arete and Mikoto, who are sisters. It's also explained that Garon isn't her biological father; Azura's father and Arete's first husband was the former King of the mysterious realm of Valla, who was murdered by the mad dragon Anankos. Arete and a young Azura fled Valla for Nohr, becoming a part of the royal family until Arete's death and Azura's kidnapping. Azura crowns the Avatar as the new ruler of a newly created Valla after the original Valla is sealed up after Anankos' death, serving as their personal advisor. If Azura has obtained an S-Support with the male Avatar, she will instead become the new queen of Valla. Heirs of Fate Regardless of the route chosen in the end, Azura's entire existence is a huge mystery by future scholars and historians. It is through both her marriage and Shigure that there is ever evidence for her existence. Personality Due to the heavy rejection and discrimination she faced in her time as child in Nohr, Azura developed a reserved and stoic personality, sprouting from her fear of provaction and rejection, only opening up to people she is close to. This stoicism can sometimes cause her to hurt others' feelings without meaning to, though via bluntness rather than naiveté, as she is not afraid of telling someone what she thinks of them. She is well aware of these things, as she does not want this happening to her children, if she is married, and wants them to stay the way they are, rather than have them grow up like her. When she does open up, she proves to have quite the mischievous side, such as teasing Sakura by scaring her with ghost stories. Despite that, however, she is never cruel, and tries to help those she criticizes overcome a flaw or problem by pointing it out to them. This tends to make her view herself as a replacement for the Avatar's Hoshidan family. Her supports with her adopted siblings Ryoma and Hinoka have her telling them they don't have to pretend to love her anymore now that their real sibling is back, and she apologizes to the Avatar in their Hoshidan supports for "stealing" their birthright from them. Ryoma and Hinoka tell her their familial love for her was never faked, and the Avatar assures her that they don't blame her at all. Although she can get slightly emotional at times, Azura is kindhearted and surprisingly knowledgeable about many things, some of which others would not know about. Examples include the history of Valla, her unique ability to manipulate water through the use of her necklace and a brief history about dragons and degeneration from her mother. Azura's singing holds great, but mysterious powers (presumably enhanced due to her necklace), which hold a multitude of uses, namely for breaking spells, re-energizing friendly units during battle (similar to the dancing mechanic of previous games) and calming the madness the Avatar suffers from when they transform into a dragon for the first time in Chapter 5. Although she is more cynical and world-weary than the Avatar, she shares their conviction in trying to make the world a better place. Normally neat and tidy, she has the worst cases of bed hair in the army and is a restless sleeper. She also has a weakness for cute things and enjoys telling scary stories. In-Game Base Stats Chapter 5 - Mother Lance - E |Item=Brass Naginata }} * Inventory when rejoining in Conquest Chapter 9 - Another Trial Vulnerary, Chest Key Growth Rates |25% |60% |25% |80% |80% |60% |15% |35% |} Max Stat Modifiers | 0 | 0 | +1 | +3 | 0 | -3 | 0 |} Class Sets Standard Sets |} Friendship Sets |-|Birthright/Revelation= |} |-|Conquest/Revelation= |} Partner Sets |-|All Routes= |} |-|Birthright/Revelation= |} |-|Conquest/Revelation= |} *Azura only has access to the Apothecary, Oni Savage, Spear Fighter, or Wyvern Rider class if she marries an Avatar with that class as his secondary class. Special Classes |} Supports Romantic Supports * The Avatar (Male) * Jakob * Kaze * Silas Hoshido * Ryoma * Takumi * Saizo * AzamaAzama * Hinata * Subaki * HayatoHayato * Kaden Nohr * Xander * Leo * Laslow * NilesNiles * Odin * Arthur (Fates)Arthur * KeatonArthur (Fates)Keaton * Benny Other Supports * The Avatar (Female) * Hinoka * Sakura * Elise * Shigure * Azura's second child. Overall Base Class Azura is a typical Dancer-like unit in her unique Songstress class, allowing her to reinvigorate one allied unit per turn through her Sing command. Like other units from past games like her, Azura is a fragile unit with low HP, Defense, and Resistance growths, but offset by high Speed, Skill, and Luck growths to help her avoid attacks altogether rather than enduring them. In stark contrast to the Dancers from previous games, Azura has a high Strength growth, and can use this to destroy stray enemy units in a pinch. While Azura is generally better off using her song to give units an additional turn, she can still deal reasonable damage as a secondary attacker while in Attack Stance. However, her low defense and health make her fragile to almost any attack and should avoid facing groups of reasonably strong enemies. Normally, past units like her were typically mid game units, putting them at a severe disadvantage from the enemy units that were usually stronger then them. Azura instead is received early in the game, allowing her to level up with a lot less risk. Additionally, another advantage is the Songstress class' weapon choice of Lances, allowing Azura to attack and retaliate to distant enemies. However, the Songstress' class' Lance rank caps at C rank, limiting her offensive options. Finally, her personal skill Healing Descant gives her a two tile heal zone around her that recovers 10% HP to all units within her zone. The Songstress class has no promotion, but gains a total of 4 skills in its 40 Level cap. Azura will start off with Luck +4, giving her some respite from enemy critical chances, but will lose usefulness later with better skills from other classes. At level 10, Azura's singing becomes more potent with Inspiring Song which grants a 3 point boost to the Speed, Skill, and Luck of any unit that she sings to. Her final two skills Voice of Peace and Foreign Princess gives her two more zone skills that reduce the damage dealt by enemies by two in her two tile zone from the former and a two damage reduction plus a two damage from received ally attacks from the latter. Overall, Azura plays well as a supportive unit and benefits greatly off of tighter gameplay as she can support other units much more easily. She makes an exceptional unit for Rally usage due to the nature of most of her given class skills and especially her personal skill. However, this skill set requires a lot of external help from other player's StreetPass teams or the player's own subsequent playthroughs. Players are recommended to keep her as a songstress whenever possible; although she can deal considerable damage to enemies, her frail health growths and class skills lean more towards a supporting unit rather then a frontline unit. If kept as a Songstress, it is advised to have her learn Warp; this will essentially doubles the movement of any unit she is able to warp to, and allows the unit(s) to basically cover half of the map if their movement is extremely high. For balancing reasons, both Einherjar and replicated versions of songstress Azura are unable to use their singing skills to give allies a second turn. Secondary Class Azura's secondary class is the Sky Knight class, which will have a decent head start thanks to her base class' usage of Lances as well as her naturally high speed and skill matching this Class set's naturally high skill and speed stats as well. As such, if looking for an more offensive oriented Azura, her secondary class provides that option. The Sky Knight's first skill, Darting Blow, is good for an offensive Azura as it will increase her double attack chances when she initiates a battle. The second ability Camaraderie syncs well with Azura's zone play by providing herself a 10% HP regen when units are within a two tile radius of her at the start of a turn, though is not nearly as good as Renewal if she can get access to the Shrine Maiden class from a Sakura or marriage with Azama or the Avatar with the Priest as his secondary. As a Falcon Knight, she gains Rally Speed to boost all allies within two tile range of her with a 4 stat boost upon using the Rally Command and Warding Blow to make her an aggressive anti-mage unit. As a Kinshi Knight, she gains Air Superiority to avoid aerial units, but her Amaterasu skill gives her zone play the largest regen boost by giving her turn heals an additional 20% HP, giving her a 30% HP recovery for all allies in her zone each turn in tandem with her personal skill. If planning to have Azura stay as a Songstress by the endgame, it is recommended that she gains the desired skills from whatever classes they belong to as soon and as quickly as possible. Friendship Class Azura gains a Friendship Class from Elise and Sakura: *'Elise' — Elise provides her with the Troubadour class. Notably, she will gain Demoiselle first as another zone skill to aid male units in her zone with a nice 2 damage reduction. The Strategist class gives her Inspiration which is basically another Foreign Princess skill, but not limited to "Foreign Army" units. Additionally, Rally Resistance is provided by this class for those seeking a Rally Azura. The Maid class gives her mainly Tomebreaker to avoid Tome/Spell damage and Live to Serve if keeping Azura in this healing class is more what the player desires. *'Sakura' — Sakura gives her the Shrine Maiden class. Her base class provides Miracle which could save her in case she is hit by a deadly blow. Rally Luck can be obtained from this class as well. The Onmyoji class provides Rally Magic and is essentially the only useful skill from the class if planning on keeping Azura as a songstress. As a Priestess, she gains Renewal, which is a much more suitable self-recovery skill than Camaraderie since it heals her 30% and does not require her to be around other allied units to activate it. Countermagic is worth considering given her fragile nature and can dish back magic damage taken if needed, resulting in high counter damage. Partner Class * The Avatar - Azura can access Oni Savage, Apothecary, Wyvern Rider and Spear Fighter, if the Avatar has these classes as their secondary class. All classes increase her Strength and Defense growths by 10-20% and keeps most of her other stat growths roughly the same, greatly increasing durability if enough time is invested in levelling her up while in these classes as well as having skills that can really make a difference if Azura is to be kept as a Songstress. **'Spear Fighter' is of particular note, as it provides her with Swap, which allows her to retreat behind friendly units when necessary, useful when she is a Songstress, and the class utilises lances, which is Azura's main choice of weapon, meaning that you do not have to worry with adjusting to a different weapon type in this class. Seal Defence is also useful so that if an enemy attacks her, another unit can pick of that enemy due to having it's stats reduced. If Azura promotes while she is a Spear Fighter has the options of Spear Master and Basara. The former is no different in terms of growth rates and offers Seal Speed, to help prevent most enemy units from doubling her, and Lancefaire, which adds additonal Strength to her if she is using a lance. The latter isn't as useful for growth, but it does however offer Rend Heaven, which adds half of the enemy's Strength/Magic to her own when activated, and Quixotic, increasing the enemy's as well as her skill activation rate which is incredibly risky due to Azura's lack in Defense growths. With enough patience (and possibly the Boo Camp DLC) one can have Azura gain all the skills from Spear Fighter, Spear Master and Rend Heaven from Basara so that she may have several offensive option if she is being attacked and can counter said attack with efficiency as well as keeping her Lances handy. **'Oni Savage' trades Azura's Skill and Luck growths for higher Strength, Defense and Magic. Apart from switching Lances for Clubs, this class has its benefits such as it's skills, Seal Resistance and Shove, and more offence orientated stat growths. Oni Chieftain is a good choice for promotion if one plans on doing so, as it offers an additional Magic growth while keeping stat growth mostly the same. Death Blow and Counter are good skills for Azura to have, as the former increases her Critical Hit rate if she starts the battle and the latter is handy for repelling attackers considering Azura's shaky Defense. Blacksmith, on the other hand, gives Azura her Speed, Skill and Luck growths back while keeping some of her offensive growth rates. With Salvage Blow in hand, there is the chance that Azura can collect lots of Iron weaponry due to her high Luck and Lancebreaker can help in avoiding powerful Lances when up against an enemy in possession of one. Overall, the Oni Savage and its promotins offer lots of offence potions for Azura, however her Defence may still be below par at best if she spends time in this class line. **'Wyvern Rider '''has a balance in advantages and disadvantages; it has excellent stat growths in everything but Resistance and is weak against bows, yumis, the Tome Excalibur and dragon-slayer weapons, which includes all incarnations of the Falchion, the Wyrmslayer and the Dragon Spirit. However, this class and it's promotions give great stats and skills to those who are patient. The Wyvern Rider's skills are Strength +2, which is a short term remedy for Azura's low Strength, and Lunge, useful for getting out of sticky situations. Malig Knight, one of the Wyvern Rider's promotions, gives a good balance of growth across the board and allows the use of Tomes for Azura to tap into her Magic for offensive purposes. Savage Blow can help in her area skill play as the skill removes 20% of any nearby enemy's max HP. Since most enemies throughout the story are unmounted, Trample can be helpful when against anyone without a mount should the need arise. Wyvern Lord can be a good class for Azura to gain some good Defense options and also utilises Lances as a secondary weapon. Rally Defense can be a good skill for use in Rally play when combined with Rally Luck, Rally Magic, Rally Resistance and Rally Speed if playing on ''Revelation. Swordbreaker can be a good skill to have when avoiding combat and powerful swords altogether. Despite the weaknesses it comes with, the Wyvern Rider class may give way to a sturdier and stronger version of Azura. **'Apothecary '''can be considered a risky reclass option if one decides to have Azura reclass into one. This is due to the Apothecary class using yumi, which cdo not allow their users to retaliate against adjacent foes. On the other hand, the Apothecary has great stat growths in categories that Azura is lacking in and offers the skills Potent Potion and Quick Salve, skills that make healing items more efficient when equipped. Merchant is a good offense class that Azura can use to weaponise her high Luck and a good class for her to reuse Lances. Profiteer allows Azura to gain Gold Bars using her high Luck and Spendthrift gives her the ability to spend Gold Bars for a one-battle boost that increases damage dealt and decreases damage recieved by 10, which can be potentially life saving considering Azura's shakey Defense growths. The Mechanist class is a questionable reclass option for Azura, as the class has low stat growths across the board and offers no useful skills for her whatsoever. The class uses yumi and shuriken, leaving Azura better of as a different class because of her low strength - leaving her shurikens with no damage output due to their low Might and her low Strength - and the class's skills, Replicate and Golembane, are mostly useless. This is due to Azura's low defence and the fact that replica Songstresses are incapable of using the Sing command. If a class change to Apothecary is in mind, it should be a temporary one that happens after reaching level 30 or 35 so that she may grab all Merchant skills and stats for future purposes. Quotes ''Refer to Azura/Quotes. Possible Endings Azura - Lady of the Lake (泉の歌姫 Izumi no Utahime lit. Songstress of the Spring) : There are no official records or stories of Azura from after the war. She was such a mysterious figure that later generations wondered if she truly existed, or if she was merely a spirit in human form. ; Azura and the Avatar (Revelation) : The two spent the rest of their lives together, Avatar ruling as a wise King of Valla. There are few records of Azura beyond her marriage. She remains a historical mystery. ; Azura and Ryoma : Ryoma was crowned King of Hoshido, and his rule led to an era of unprecedented prosperity. There are few records of Azura beyond her marriage. She remains a historical mystery. ; Azura and Kaden : Despite marriage, Kaden continued to travel, turning favors. Later, he served as chief of his village. There are few records of Azura beyond her marriage. She remains a historical mystery. ; Azura and Kaze : While no official records of Kaze survive, he appears in many rumors and tales of heroic exploits. There are few records of Azura beyond her marriage. She remains a historical mystery. ; Azura and Arthur : Arthur returned to his true calling, justice. Scholars believe his luck improved slightly after the war. There are few records of Azura beyond her marriage. She remains a historical mystery. ;Azura and Laslow : Laslow vanished after the war, but he inspired generations of dancers and rallied the spirits of many. Few records of Azura and her husband survive. She remains a historical mystery. ;Azura and Leo : Leo sacrificed much for Nohr, leading the effort to spread King Xander's radical new policies. There are few records of Azura beyond her marriage. She remains a historical mystery. ;Azura and Xander : As King of Nohr, Xander laid the foundation for a new era of peace and prosperity for the kingdom. There are few records of Azura beyond her marriage. She remains a historical mystery. ; Azura and Silas : Silas served loyally as a knight of Nohr. He was beloved by trainee knights for his great patience. There are few records of Azura beyond her marriage. She remains a historical mystery. ; Azura and Takumi : Takumi grew into his position as a leader and prince. He was a crucial part of Hoshido's recovery. There are few records of Azura beyond her marriage. She remains a historical mystery. Non-Canon Appearances Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher) Azura is illustrated in the trading card game Fire Emblem Cipher with the following card: Etymology Azura comes from the word azure, a shade of blue. Aqua, her name in the Japanese version, is the Latin word for water. It is also a greenish-blue color. Trivia *Azura has two different voice actresses in Japanese: her normal voice actress is Lynn while her singing voice is provided by Renka. This has been seen in previous Fire Emblem games when other characters had to sing (like Ashunera and Sephiran in Radiant Dawn and possibly Micaiah). *Despite Azura being considered the deuteragonist, the development team actually considers her to be the main protagonist just as much as they do the Avatar. In the West, conversely, the Avatar is instead mainly considered to be the protagonist due to them being meant to be the visual reflection of the player, resulting in the level of control and customization for them to be much higher. *Azura's official artwork and portraits depict her wielding the Blessed Lance. *Azura placed 5th most popular female character in the official character popularity poll held on the game's official site. **Azura placed in the top ten of the Famitsu Popularity Poll at 8th place, and 1st place in the top ten married poll as well. *Azura's birthday, March 3, falls under the sign Pisces and evokes the element of water. It is also the same day as Hinamatsuri or Girls' Day. *Azura is the only character whose supports with the Avatar change depending on the path chosen. This also changes what her confession quotes are as well. *Azura draws many parallels to Lady Nimue in Arthurian legends. Both are considered key women in their respective stories, are responsible for giving the protagonists key weapons (a Dragonstone and Excalibur respectively), and both have the epitaph of "Lady of the Lake." *In the Heirs of Fate DLC, her portrait is altered to where she is not wearing her pendant, while Shigure's is also changed to where he instead is wearing it. Gallery Category:Playable characters Category:Fire Emblem Fates characters Category:Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher) Characters